Prix Pictet 2009

The prestigious international Prize for photography “Prix Pictet”, now at its second edition, is being presented for the first time in Italy.

The Form Foundation for Photography (Fondazione Forma per la Fotografia) has been chosen as the privileged place where to hold from October 5th to 17th a selection of works by the 12 finalists of the 2009 Prix Pictet edition, entitled Earth.

The subjects of this second edition of the award are sustainability and earth, as referred to in the title, which, however, should not only be meant as the planet that hosts us, but also as the ground upon which we walk and the 'wounds' that humanity has dealt her, both direct wounds - such as, for example, the excavations of mines and oil wells, open-air waste dumps and toxic slurries – and indirect wounds – such as those left by natural disasters, earthquakes, epidemics and forced migrations of populations who are victims of wars and famines.
The pictures taken denounce the damaging and often irreversible consequences caused by the exploitation of natural resources as well as the effects – be they immediate or long-term – involved by non-sustainable development and growth and suffered by communities worldwide.

The Prix Pictet Earth was awarded to Nadav Kander, a British photographer, for his series of shots dedicated to the Chinese Yangtze River, who received the award from the honorary chairman Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations.
The American Ed Kashi, on the contrary, was awarded the Prix Pictet Commission, a special assignment – a real 'rib' of the official prize – which is offered every year by the organizing society Pictet & Cie, which asks one of the one of the artists already selected for the award to create a body of works in regions where Pictet & Cie sponsors the work of an NGO whose work reflects the theme of the prize.

The finalists, whom have been chosen among hundreds of photographers from around the world who participated in the selection of the prize, are twelve, namely: Darren Almond (UK), Christopher Anderson (Canada), Sammy Baloji (Congo), Edward Burtynsky (Canada), Andreas Gursky (Germany), Naoya Hatakeyama (Japan), Abbas Kowsari (Iran), Yao Lu (China), Edgar Martins (Portugal), Chris Steele-Perkins (UK), Nadav Kander (UK), the winner of Prix Pictet Earth, Ed Kashi (USA), the winner of Prix Pictet Commission.
In 2009, Pictet & Cie sponsored Azafady, an English organization based, among other places, in Madagascar, where Ed Kashi was on a journey in the early 2010s.
A selection of photos taken by Kashi in that wonderful country are among the works on display at Forma, accompanied by a selected group of the finalists’ works, including the works of the official winner of the Earth prize.
The works of all 12 finalists arrive in Milan after being involved in a world tour that started in Paris in October 2009 and will finally reach Delhi in December 2010, via Thessaloniki, Dubai, Eindhoven, Dublin, Moscow, Lausanne, Berlin and Madrid.
On the occasion of the award, a book entitled Earth has been published to accompany the exhibition, published and distributed internationally by teNeues, which illustrates the works of 12 finalists as well as of other artists selected for the 2009 edition.

History of the Prize
Prix Pictet was established in 2008 at the behest of the Geneva bank Pictet & Cie, asserting itself in just two years among the most prestigious photography prizes at international level. Its aim is to communicate, through a medium as powerful as a photograph, messages of vital importance such as sustainability to a wider and wider audience.
Its jury is independent and composed of internationally recognized experts and critics.
The third edition of the Prix Pictet was presented at the Rencontres d'Arles in July 2010 and its finalists will be announced in November in Paris on the occasion of "Paris Photo". The theme is "Growth, to be meant in all its forms. From the dizzying growth of our cities, with their growing dependence on scarce natural resources, the rapid growth of population and its needs, the theme of growth constitutes a rich and creative challenge.

Forma was founded in 2005 and after the first 5 years of its activity, which led it to become the House of Photography in Italy, in 2010 - at the initiative of Contrasto, a publishing house specializing in photography – it became a Foundation.
Forma offers exhibition spaces diversified by themes, a rich schedule of exhibitions, spaces for projections, debates and educational activities, besides housing a specialized library and a Gallery which contains works by great authors of our time destined for sale.